Pipe driving point



March 17, 1953 F. E. DANNHEIM 2,631,823

PIPE DRIVING POINT Filed Oct. 21, 1947 b, INVENTOR. 5 fled E. Dom/rem? BY 61, M

Patented Mar. 17, 11953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PIPE DRIVING POINT Fred E. Dannheim, Allentown, N'. Y.

Application October 21, 1947, Serial No. 781,178

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a novel implement for use in driving ordinary metal pipe through the ground, devices of this general type being known in the art as pipe driving points.

A common problem in laying pipe lines for oil and other fluids arises when it is necessary to cross a roadbed or the like. This is usually accomplished by fitting a driving point to the leading end of the pipe and driving the pipe horizontally through the roadbed or other embankment. Various percussive implements and apparatuses may be employed for imparting driving blows to the pipe. The present invention is not concerned with this phase of the problem but deals entirely with the provision of a novel driving point which results in very much more satisfactory driving than anything heretofore available in this art.

In pipe driving points of the prior art the chief diificulty and objection has been the inability of the point to travel continuously in a stright line. This problem is a difiicult one since tree roots, stones and other obstructions are encountered with a high degree of frequency. Likewise, when a driving point encounters a slanting hardpan, deflection of the point has heretofore been regarded as inevitable.

The driving point of my invention is found to result in straight driving of pipe to a degree heretofore considered impossible of attainment. Pipes have been driven to a length of close to a hundred feet with a lateral deviation of less than thediameter of the pipe. While the principles of the present invention are of general application, the inventors practical use of the present driving point has been in work involving the driving of iron or steel pipe from two inches to eight inches nominal inside diameter.

Speaking generally, the driving point of the present invention combines three factors which are all believed to contribute to the unusually accurate operation which is achieved. The first of these three factors is the provision of radiating cutting edges lying in a transverse plane which forms the front face of the tool and cocupies a circle just slightly larger than the outside diameter of the hole to be formed. The diameter of this hole is equal to the outside diameter of the internally threaded couplings which conventionally connect the various lengths of pipe. The second factor is the provision of a guiding portion of considerable length extending continuously for the full diameter of the hole. This is not to be confused with plural but discontinuous guiding portions, however great the axial distance between such portions may be.

The third factor is the provision of means which cause the driving point to rotate continuously on its own longitudinal axis automatically upon lengthwise driving movement thereof, so

that the radiating cutting edges rotate as they are driven through the ground.

It is to be understood that the foregoing analysis of the importance of the various factors is speculative and that in any event the novel operation heretofore claimed results from the use of the tool shown and described herein, regardless of the weight which the various factors bring to bear upon the ultimate result.

The accompanying drawing and the following specification disclose in detail a complete driving.

point constructed in accordance with my invention. It is to be understood, however, that the driving point shown and described is by way of example only and my invention is not limited excepting as defined in the appended claims.

Fig. l is a vertical cross sectional view of an earth embankment, which may be a roadbed or the like, with pipe being driven therethrough with one form of the driving point of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the driving point and its connection to the first length on an enlarged scale; and

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the driving point.

In the several figures of the drawing like characters of reference denote like parts and, referring to Fig. 1, the numeral l0 designates an embankment through which a pipeline is being driven, the latter comprising several lengths of pipe ll, I2 and I3 connected by conventional couplings l4 and I5. The driving point is designated generally 16 in Fig. l and is connected to the first length of pipe II by a conventional pipe coupling l1.

Referring particularly to Fig. 2, the driving point comprises a cylindrical main body portion l8 which is of considerable length compared to its diameter. In the illustrated instance the uninterrupted cylindrical extent of portion 18 is roughly four to five times its diameter. The diameter of this main body portion I8 is equal to the outside diameter of the couplings I 4, l5 and [1.

The rear or trailing end of the driving point is reduced as at I9 to substantially the outside diameter of the pipe being driven and is threaded for connection with pipe II by means of coupling 11.

At the front or leading end of the tool, cylindrical body portion 18 is brought to an approximately conical but slightly convex point designated 20 in Figs. 2 and 3. Superimposed on the point 20 are radiating blades 2!, in the present instance four in number. The front radially extending faces of blades 21 are formed to a knife or chisel edge and their rear or trailing portions are curved as indicated at 22 in Fig. 2. This curvature is of such direction and degree that the earth acting against the concave face thereof causes rotation of the driving point in a clockwise direction as viewed from the front (Fig. 3).

This rotation causes the point and the following pipe to drive in a straight line regardless of minor misalignments in the pipe connections. Such misalignments may be due to connections which are not in perfect'axial alignment or because the pipe becomes sprung ,dur-

The direction of rotation of the point is calculated to tighten the coupling connections as the work proceeds.

The means for driving .the point through the ground through the medium of the pipe connected thereto maybe a hydraulic ram, a pendulum type ram, a. pneumatic hammer or any othersuitable means.

The driving point of the present invention may be fabricated in any desired manner as by forging the leading end, by forging and welding the'blades thereto, by machining or by any combination of these fabricating methods.

. 'W'hat'is claimed is:

.An implement for driving into earth a pipe assembly comprising a series of pipes connected by internally threaded couplings of greater diameter than the pipes, said implement comprising a cylindrical body portion of a diameter substantially equal to the external diameter of the pipe couplings and of a length at least several times its diameter, means rearwardly of ment through earth or the like, said blades lying in a circle of substantially the diameter of said body portion whereby they merge smoothly at their rear terminal portions into said body portion substantially at the point Where the cylindrical body portion and the forwardly tapering formation merge.

E. DANNHEIM.

REFERENCES CITED The :following references .are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 68,917 Waite .Sept. 17, 1867 77,941 White May 12, 1868 83,901 Armstrong Nov. 10, 1868 470,593 Oxley Mar..8, 1892 693,508 Fette Feb. 18, 1902 982,023 Sands Jan. 17, 19.11

1,616,666 Nebergall Feb. 8, 192.7 1,734,672 Harralson Nov. 5, 1929 1,739,846 Lang Dec. .17., 1929 2,040,074 Brenholm May v12, 1936 2,179,689 Earnheart Nov. 14, 1939 2,425,012 Snyder Aug. 5, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 12,581 Australia Apr. 2, 1929 486,235 Great Britain June 1, 1938 528,593 Great Britain May 10, 19,40 

